Saving You
by Gigglepud
Summary: Set after the bullying incident in Yuuji's childhood, the bullies seeks revenge with the assistance of high school hoodlums. Yuuji wouldn't have cared… until Shouko gets dragged into the mess. Now he'll do anything in order to save her. Shouko/Yuuji-centric.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:** Awww, I just friggin love Shouko/Yuuji so much 3 This couple is just too sweet :D_

_I admit, I started this without remembering there was a Yuuji/Shouko episode in season 2 on their background, so when I rewatched season 1 episode 7, bunnies leapt at me when Yuuji said "what happened back there was just an accident" or something like that, and I'm think ~something big must have happened!~ and then I remembered there was season 2, so I had to frantically changed a few details in my plot, since the second season implied that the 'whatever happened back there' was just the bullying incident.. _

_Anyhow, my point is that you're probably gonna wonder when this was set as you read, so I'll tell you now. It's probably set shortly after the bullying/ep 7 incident and before Yuuji first told Shouko about the year of Taika Reform_.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_Desperate violet-brown eyes caught pale brown-blue ones. Struggle as he might, he just couldn't break free of their hold to reach her._

-x-

"Yuuji… you've been so quiet lately, is everything alright?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine," was the muttered reply. Shouko Kirishima's shy gentle words were barely heard; her concern did not reach Yuuji Sakamoto's attention.

Frowning, Shouko bit her lip, her brown-blue eyes filled with worry. If any bystanders were to spot the two young children walking home by the river, they would see a picture painted with adorableness, but even the sunset could not make up for the tense atmosphere that surrounded the two. The whole day, Yuuji remained silent as he worked through his class tasks; remained silent as he ignored the sensei's teachings and stared out the window; remained silent as he sat by the corner himself in the classroom, thinking about something. And now, he remained silent as he walked home with his best friend.

"It's yesterday's tests, isn't it?" Shouko piped cheerfully. "You're right to be worried, I'll definitely come first place this time!"

Yuuji turned to Shouko slowly. "Huh.. Tests? Oh right, the one on history… nah, I'll be fine on that one."

Shouko scratched her head. They resumed walking in silence; Yuuji had never reacted in such a indifferent manner to the idea that someone could surpass him in grades. Yuuji was too proud to be so uncaring towards the fortnightly tests.

Biting her lip, she wrapped her arms around his, and leaned her head towards him, "Let's go to the park together again".

"Huh? Oh.. The park?" Shouko did not fail to notice the panic in his voice, and the sudden paleness on his normally smug face. "I- I'll have to pass today. In fact, I'm going to go this way today, I feel like a walk…"

Shouko turned to look at the direction Yuuji pointed at; if he was to follow the road, it would take him another 30 minutes before he got home, but Yuuji made it obvious in his actions that he wanted to be home as soon as possible. With a wave of his arm as goodbye, he walked off without another word. Shouko remained silent as she watched him walk away, until at last, she could no longer hear his footsteps. The sigh finally escaped her lips.

After the events last week, when Shouko got involved in a bullying incident and Yuuji stood up for her, their friendship had established, but only in so much. Shouko did not miss the fact that Yuuji allowed her to get so close to him as to cling onto his arm, nor did she find it normal that he didn't snap at her during the whole day.

It was another ten minutes before she reached the playground, but without Yuuji, she had no intentions of stopping there. Sparing but a glance, she looked at the children playing on the familiar faded red slide, the girl by the swing pushing a younger boy, the twin boys swing on the monkey bars, and the group of children from her school running around playing tag. Seeing a wave of hazel-brown hair fly past, Shouko instantly recognised the sister of her classmate. Meaning to say hi, she took a step towards her, only to feel a tap on her shoulder.

Shouko turned around sharply, and found herself face to face with a much taller and older boy with a strong build. His face was framed by short, spiky blue hair with cold grey eyes that sent shivers down her spine. It didn't help that his broken nose proved that he was well experienced in fights. His school uniform told that he was from Yamahashi High School, the infamous school full of delinquents. Shouko shrunk back, realising this was most likely the troublesome past student from her school rumoured to have bribed the teachers in order to graduate.

When she took a step back, she felt another presence at her back; turning to look, she realised the new arrival was one she recognised. He was thin, but tall, his blue-round glasses flashed with menace. His tall nose and firm face would have classified him as handsome, if it weren't for the scowl that plastered on his face at that moment. He was one of them. One of the sixth graders; the bullies she encountered last week.

She turned her back away from him and slowly edged back, until she slowly backed up towards a wall. Her eyes darted around nervously, eyeing the many punks that had come to gather around. She recognised another sixth grader for her school, his spiky chestnut hair helped Shouko remember him as the leader of the three boys that she confronted in the incident. Counting quickly, there were about fifteen boys on the scene - all of them older and bigger than her.

Shouko slowly took a deep breath and reached her hand into her back pack. She wrapped her fingers around what seems to be her phone and took it out. Hiding the phone behind her back, she slowly pressed the buttons to call Yuuji. Having memorised it, she didn't even need to look as the muscle memory in her fingers took action. Pressing the call button, she felt around for the loud speaker button; until pain engulfed her hand as a thug swiped her phone from her fingers.

Pressure gripped her shoulders as she felt the presence of another thug another thug by her side.

"Oh no, don't you dare," cried one hoodlum.

"Your boyfriend won't be able to save you this time," sneered another.

Before she could even muster a scream, the boys grabbed hold of her arm with one hand, put the other over her mouth and lead her down the road, further and further away from her help. She eyed the phone that lay dropped on the phone and struggled to get free to no avail. She could only walk uselessly with the thugs as she let a droplet of tears streak down her pale cheeks.

_Yuuji…  
__Save me…  
__Please!__  
_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

Yuuji payed no attention to his surroundings as he walked. Ignoring the vibrating feeling pocket at first, it was after the third ring that Yuuji realised there was a phone call.

"Damn that girl," he muttered when he looked at the caller details, "why can't she just leave me alone!?"

With a sigh, he gave in to the obnoxious repetition of ringing and picked up the call.

"…" Silence.

"Hello?" Yuuji snapped tiredly. "Shouko, is this you? Answer me already, will you?"

"…" Again, there was no reply.

"Argh! What the hell is the girl doing?" He impatiently cried, but was stopped from hanging up by faint voices from the other end.

"…won't .. save you…" the words he heard barely made sense, but he had listened enough to make an educated guess.

Immediately, his legs moved. Yuuji ran as fast as he could muster, ignoring the heavy books in his bag and the weariness from a day at school. Nothing in the world mattered at the moment except for the safety of his best friend. At school, it would have been perfectly alright to leave Shouko to deal with her own problems, but outside class, who knew what was going to happen to weak, vulnerable girls in the hands of filthy, rough gangsters?!

_Damn it, Yuuji, you're the stupidest person on Earth!_ How the hell didn't he realise that Shouko was in as much danger as he was?! Why didn't he tell her the threatening notes he found in his shoe locker and warn her of the possible danger?

He knew the answer to all those questions. It was his damn pride.

His legs were numb from the sprinting, as he reached the meeting place the threatening letter had said, but Shouko was no longer there. Instead, it was easy to spot her pink school bag and her phone dropped on the ground at the side of the road that led into the park.

Damn it. Where is she? Leaving his backpack with hers, he put her phone in his pocket and kept running down the road. He had a vague idea where the gangsters had their home base, but going there would be a risk in itself. He knew full well murder was not beneath these boys.

The next time he stopped was in front of the worn down gymnasium at the edge of town. He hesitated as he considered his chances.

He was all by himself, and he was utterly useless against all the hoodlums. For all he knew, they could very well have guns and other such weapons. He shivered, but once having caught his breath, he barged in without a care for the world.

Or at least, that's how he had wished it to happen. As soon as he reached the door of the abandoned gym, he felt someone grab his shoulder. He was pulled back abruptly and he felt a kick to the stomach knock out his wind. He groaned as he flew backwards to land on his back as three strong brutes entered his blurry vision.

He gasped for breath as he attempted to crawl onto his belly, but a dirty shoe blocked his turning. He heard laughter as he felt three pairs of feet connect with his body.

Damn it! I don't even have to do this, he thought, It's her own fault she got caught! I'm just playing right into the thugs' hands.

But Yuji didn't runaway. He grabbed hold of one of the thugs' legs and pulled; the thug's legs didn't budge, but his pants did. A coarse rally of curses could be heard as the thug scrambled to pull his pants back up. Yuji was answered with an extra strong kick to the waist. Yuji swung his legs up and down, and managed to knock down a thug when he hit their knee, but as he tried to get up, the third pulled him back.

Yuji cried in pain as the third one maintained his grip on the fifth grader, his bruises shooting lightning bolts of pain throughout his body. He struggled, but slowly, his strength weakened. Eventually, it was all he could do to stay conscious, and that was only for a while, before everything went blank.

_Damn it…  
__Shouko…  
__I want to reach you!__  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When Shouko was taken by the street thugs, she was forcefully taken into a large abandoned gym. The inside of the gymnasium was worn and dirty, its air giving Shouko a foul atmosphere of ruckus. The lines that were perhaps once basketball court lines were just mere scratches on the floor. Pushed and shoved around, she was taken to the front of the gym, where there was a platform to form something similar to a stage.

A hand came forward and grabbed her from the captors and dragged her on stage. She winced at the rough actions of her new captor. From the way he carried himself, Shouko guessed him to be one of the higher ups of the gangs. His malicious grin sent shivers down her spine as he forced her to face the twenty or so members gathered around below the stage.

Shouko may have been young and naïve, but she still read books, and she still understood the dangers of being a young girl alone with a bunch of unruly guys. Her eyes were filled with naked fear as they laughed and joked around about how she would never escape; of how they were going to find Yuuji and beat him up in front of her eyes.

She stood there, petrified, for what seemed forever, until a sudden yell from the other end of the hall interrupted the mood. She watched dazedly as a few thugs ran to the back of the hall and exited. There was a strange sensation as Shouko realised she no longer felt fear or worry as she stood there in front of the meancing hoodlums; it was as if she just stopped caring.

But that all went to pass as she watched the returning hoodlums carry a sagging body into the wide gym. Shouko felt her heart beat faster as she recognised the red hair on the unconscious boy. Shouko squinted her eyes shut in hopes of banishing the scene before her, but even that was useless as the hoodlums carried Yuuji onto the stage.

Shouko tried to approach Yuuji, but strong, unrefined hands gripped her shoulder. Shouko turned to bite on her captive's hand, but as she did so, he showed her the content in his other hand, and her blood ran cold. A tazer. While never having seen one before then, even Shouko knows of the terrible consequences tazers may lead to.

Shouko doesn't stop eyeing the tazer until she hears a moan release from Yuuji. She couldn't help but hold her breath as Yuuji slowly came to. She wanted to hear his voice; she wanted to see his grin, and she wanted to make sure he was alright. But all of that would have to wait as the hoodlums stepped forward to surround the half-awake Yuuji.

"Wh-what do you guys want?!" Yuuji's cry was weak and powerless as he lay on the floor surrounded by lanky high schoolers.

A rough hand gripped Yuuji's collar and pulled him up, "You're going to pay for all you've done!"

"Wh-what did I do?!" Yuuji cried again, and Shouko couldn't help admire his bravery as he talked back.

"One of our juniors reported you were messing with him at school, so I guess it's time we teach you a lesson once and for all!" a thug answered with a sadistic grin.

Then the punches began. Whack after whack, groan after groan, the sight before Shouko was an appaling site. But yet, everyone around her were cheering and laughing, their excited grins all visible on their faces. Shouko felt sick from their reactions alone.

That was when she noticed, her captor's hands were no longer holding her, but intensely watching the sight of Yuuji before them. Shouko bit her lip, knowing that if she didn't do something now, she'd lose everything dear to her forever. If she didn't do something, not only her life; but also Yuuji's, will be gone.

Her actions were dangerous and reckless as she leapt forward and snatched the tazor from the thug before her. Without a clear destination or target, she ran towards Yuuji and pressed the tazor button just as it touched the shirts of the attacking hoodlums.

From then on, everything felt like a blur as she pointed her tazor in the hoodlums' general direction, and threatened them with her tazor as she ordered two of them to help her carry Yuuji away from here. Her knuckles were turning white as she clutched the tazor, refusing to let go.

When the police finally came after her phone call, the officers had to wrench her fingers away from the tazor as the medics carred Yuuji into a hospital truck. Shouko pushed to follow, but was ushered instead into a police car.

She knew the cops had the best intentions, but without the comfort of Yuuji's presence, even inside the secure grounds of the police headquarters, everything seemed intimidating and detached.

_Yuuji…  
__Please be okay…  
__I'll be waiting for you to come back…  
__I'll be waiting for always.__  
_


	4. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

A week after the incident, Yuuji finally turned up at school. The first thing he noticed was the empty seats in their nearby year 6 class, as certain students were apparently expelled for criminal activities.

When he pushed open the door the classroom, and found himself in the deep embrace of a certain purple-haired girl. But even so, he couldn't help but let out a smile as he returned the hug.

"Shouko, are you alright? Were you hurt?" Yuuji said hoarsly, his eyes filled with worry.

Shouko nodded, "I'm fine now that you're back."

Yuuji knew that the him a week ago would have pushed her away by now, but for now, he can't imagine letting her go. It didn't matter if he blocked the hall way. It didn't matter if everyone stared. He was just glad that she was okay, and that they made it out alive.

"I owe you my life, Shouko, I owe you my life," Yuuji said quietly, appreciation in his voice. "You saved both of us, you saved me."

"Then marry me."

Yuuji remained silent, it was surely too early, regardless of what he felt for her. Regardless of whether this feeling was love or not. He only remained silent and held her tighter.

It was the first time he noticed the fragrant rose scent in her hair and as he buried his face on her shoulder, he knew he would miss the aroma once he leaves her side. So he just stays in her arms.

He doesn't notice the class go silent as they stare at the two, and he doesn't notice the tears of happiness in Shouko's eyes. His own eyes were closed, as he drowned in Shouko's fragrance and stopped thinking about the events which occurred a week ago.

At that point in time, life was peaceful and pleasant. There were no more bullies to worry about; and he hadn't yet noticed the tazor hidden in Shouko's bag. At that point in time, he was happy. And at that point in time, he was naively ignorant about the perils of Shouko's devotion.

-END-

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_**A/N: **I'm so sorry, but I lost interest and motivation really quickly for this story, and so I just ended up rushing this piece and forcing an ending. Obviously, it means that it really downgraded in terms of quality... but I hope you guys enjoyed the plot! :'D_

_Anyhow, thank you for reading this story to the end, and if you liked, followed or reviewed, then thank you so much. I just want to note that I really appreciate that. :)_


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